Across the nation.

Navy Flier Had A Previous Crash

NASHVILLE — The flier whose Navy F-14A fighter plunged into a Nashville suburb Monday, killing himself and four other people, had crashed another jet into the sea last April.

But a Navy official said Tuesday that investigators and senior admirals forgave him, saying he made a mistake in pursuit of the combative flying that the Navy wants.

The crash was the fourth in 16 months for Fighter Squadron 213, a 14-plane unit known as the Fighting Blacklions. The unit's safety record is by far the worst among the Navy's 13 F-14 squadrons.

Vice Adm. Brent Bennitt, commander of naval forces in the Pacific, said in Washington that Navy officials approved Lt. Cmdr. John Stacy Bates' request to use a maximum-performance takeoff, in which a pilot turns on the after-burner and soars straight up moments after the jet leaves the ground. After screaming up through the clouds, the F-14 came straight down and crashed.

Many naval aviators have complained that the engines on the older A-model F-14s are not powerful enough to perform the demanding aerial maneuvers they fly.